Hello! Can you hear me?

Does anybody actually read this, or am I just talking to myself?  Not that I mind talking to myself, I enjoy my own company.  I'm just wondering...

April Skirt

See, I really did finish the skirt.  I had a similar skirt that I bought with this sweater and t-shirt a few years ago, but somehow the skirt got too small for me.  I can't imagine how that happened!  Anyway, this new skirt is made from another skirt I bought a few years ago.  The zipper fell apart and one of the seams ripped out (I don't know why since it was a full skirt and definitely not too tight), so it's been sitting all wadded up in the bottom of my closet for awhile.  I bought the pattern a few months ago and it was fairly easy to make and it fit pretty well with only a minor alteration.  I had to buy a piece of black linen for the waistband, some interfacing (because I needed black - I have plenty of white), and white lining.  I think those few things cost me around $30, but now I have a skirt I'll actually wear.  I like the pattern but the proportions are a little off so I'm going to change the size of some of the pattern pieces before I use it again.  (The center front piece should be wider and the side front pieces narrower - it doesn't show in the picture.)    My other observations on my life based on this picture are that I need to lose some weight and my legs need to get a little sun.  If I'd had more time I would have photoshopped a tan :-)

Almost Done...

So it's almost the end of another month, and I know everyone (well ok, just Julie), is waiting to see if I've finished another skirt.  And the answer is... almost.  This one has taken the most time yet, and luckily Julie reminded me a week ago that I better get started.  Of course, a week ago I wasn't completely sure which of my options I was going to pursue, but I made my decision, gathered my materials, and got to work.  I'll finish it tomorrow and get pictures up.

I probably shouldn't wait until the last minute to finish next month's skirt, since I have a lot of other things happening in my life and I just won't be able to do another last-minute project.  I don't even know what kind of skirt to make, so if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them.  It should probably be something that would be appropriate to wear to a high school graduation.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly"

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."  That's my favorite quote from a college professor.  He was one of the accounting professors in my MBA program at the University of Utah.  He meant that it's ok to not be perfect, to try even if we fail, to do our best when we can and when that's not possible at least do something.  I have been so busy and overwhelmed for the past couple weeks that I really felt like I needed to vent and complain about everything that was wrong in my life.  Then I remembered this quote.  My problem isn't that I have so much to do, but that I think I have to do it all perfectly.

For today, this means that I'm taking a mom vacation.  I have work and church responsibilities that absolutely have to be done this week.  I won't take a vacation from loving my family, and of course I'm always available at a moment's notice if someone really needs me, but I don't recall signing a contract that says I am required to cook dinner and clean the house every day, especially when I'm busier that the other three adults who live in this house.  (Of course on the days I'm not busier than them, I will gladly do what I can to make their days easier.)  My mom vacation doesn't mean I'm punishing my family, it just means I've hit my limit and I can't do my mom  responsibilities perfectly today.

I also am not going to beat myself up over my church responsibilities.  Incredibly, the most stressful church job this week is providing refreshments for 200 teenagers on both Wednesday and Saturday.  It should be easy, I sort of have a budget for it and I'll get reimbursed for whatever I spend.  However, my plan has been to drive to WinCo and buy several 36-packs of fudgesicles, creamsicles and popsicles.  The problem is that WinCo is over 10 miles away, in the opposite direction from the church.  I can't buy enough for both days at once because they won't fit in my freezer so it would take two separate trips.  My solution is to buy the refreshments somewhere else, even though it will cost twice as much.  I still feel a twinge of guilt at using more of the budget than necessary, but I'm trying to let go of that.  I have a lot of other church responsibilities this week, but by not making two trips to WinCo I've freed up enough time that they don't look so bad now.

I picked up my work calendar this morning and realized I have a bunch of reports and quarterly tax forms due this week.  Unfortunately I can't do them badly, but what I will do badly is work during the afternoons and evenings to get them done.  I usually don't work when my family is home so maybe this really goes with the mom responsibilities, but I'm counting it as work.

So it looks like my week will be filled with lots of responsibilities, each of which will be done badly in some way, but they will all be done because they're all worth doing.  I feel better now and no longer have the desire to complain.

(By the way, my second-favorite quote from a college professor is "The time required to complete a task always expands to fill the time allotted."  That was from a statistics professor who gave us a huge assignment with only two days to complete it.)

I'm Thankful for Today

I've been running around all morning and I'm supposed to be somewhere right now, but I have food in the oven that I'm supposed to be bringing somewhere and it's not done yet.  That gives me a few minutes to write about nothing for the benefit of the very few people who will actually read this.

I've been so busy and overwhelmed this past week that I've felt like complaining a little.  I thought I deserved a few minutes to myself, or some time to read a book, or just some time that I didn't have to think.  When I start feeling like I deserve something then I know something is wrong and I need to change my attitude.  This morning I went to a funeral for a woman only a few years older than me.  It kind of gave me a reality check about what my life is all about.  I don't deserve free time or a full stomach or a roof over my head or good health or any of the things I either take for granted or want more of.  I'm just glad I have today to enjoy my family and friends because who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Now I'm thankful I have an understanding family and a car to get me to where I was supposed to be 35 minutes ago.  Happy Easter!

A Day in my Life... (or possibly the most boring post ever)

I kept thinking I wanted to write about a normal day in my life.  I kept putting off this project because every day seemed like it was going to be unusual in some way, and I was determined to use a typical day.  Turns out my typical day is decidedly not normal, so here goes!

6:40 - Woke up half an hour later than usual. I must have been tired and I didn't have any early morning commitments so it didn't hurt anything.

6:40-7:50 - It's surprising that my early morning routine takes so long.  I read my scriptures, ate breakfast with the kids, got an idea what their plans are for the day, checked my email and Facebook, then read the newspaper.  That’s kind of a lot.   I guess it’s not so surprising it takes so long.

7:50-8:50 - I don't think it should take me his much time to get ready in the morning, but apparently it does. Besides showering and getting dressed I did my one cleaning chore that I do every day without fail, I towel-dried the shower. It's time consuming, but it’s better than cleaning soap scum and mildew off the tile later. I also had to deal with the cat who was scratching the furniture and chewing on the corner of the tile counter top.

8:50-9:15 - Time to do all those other little chores that take more time than I think they should, like pick up dirty clothes, feed the pets, and run the dishwasher. Also time to load up the car for the day: shirts for dance festival practice tonight and serger and sewing supplies for sewing the dance festival costumes.  This dance festival is a church activity that is taking a huge amount of my time.  In June we’ll have about 600 teenagers dancing in a performance, and although I’m not in charge of any of the preparation I get to do a lot of little things relating to it.

9:15-12:30 - Sewing party for the costumes.  We had about 15 people at the church working on about 75 of the costumes and we didn’t finish.  I brought a few skirts home to finish and I’m sure I’ll be bringing home a lot more in the coming weeks.

12:30-1:00 – I came home for lunch, saw the kids (they got out of school early today), got the mail, checked with my email, and played with the cat.  Hey, I fit quite a bit into that half hour!

1:00-1:30 – I decided to start on this blog post so I wouldn’t have to do it all tonight.  I started it in Google Docs, then the internet decided to be stupid.  That happens a lot here so at least that part of my day was normal.  I did some of it on my phone and saved the rest for later.  It would be interesting to figure out how much time I waste every day waiting for the internet to work.

1:30-4:30 – Work.  I’m glad I can work pretty much as much or as little as I want, whenever I want, but I still don’t like doing it.  I like getting paid though, so I’ll keep it up.

4:30-5:15 – I put the dishes away while chicken was defrosting in the microwave, then I fried some chicken strips for buffalo chicken salad.  My dear husband was kind enough to make the rest of the salad.  I really hate cutting up lettuce and tomatoes. 

5:15-5:45 – Family dinner J

5:45-6:00 – More emails to deal with.

6:00-9:00 – I drove an hour each way to attend one of the dance festival rehearsals and collect some costume order forms and money.  It was a nice drive in the foothills and it’s always good to see the kids having a great time. 

9:00-10:00 – Phone calls, emails, and visits, mostly involving the dance festival.  I thought I’d have more time to finish this post but life took up too much of my time today. 

10:00-whenever this is posted – Finishing up this post.  I wish I had some time to make this more interesting, or at least proofread what I’ve written, but truth is I’m tired and tomorrow looks different from today but equally as busy. 

15 minutes after that – Getting ready for bed and hopefully falling asleep! 

If I weren't so tired, I'd make a list of things I didn't get done today.  It would include exercising, mopping the kitchen floor and doing the laundry, and it would be so long that my internet definitely wouldn't stay connected long enough for me to upload it.  It's ok though, I had a good day.